Obviously my own personal opinion but I don't think Marvin did anyone but the coastal resorts a favor with that article. Granted the increased business at the coastal resorts may have a trickle down effect on Mexico's economy but I am not seeing the needed push to boost the damaged economies in the inland areas which were really damaged by the negative press.

Certainly TripAdvisor isn't the authority on Mexico travel but a review of the "Jalisco Forum" is a good indicator of what I am talking about. I would guess that 90%+ of the conversations are about Puerto Vallarta and I have to wonder how Guadalajara ever became the 2nd largest city in Mexico, as it is virtually ignored? Regards, Neil Albuquerque, NM

I was at the Riviera Maya in July and the resort where I and 3 family members stayed was very bnusy. We took 3 tours and all were booked. Two of those tours weren't even available the last time that we were there at the Barselo. We had another great time. Viva Mexico!

We've seen similar increases here in Yucatan - in both coastal and non-coastal areas.

Expat forums are curious things, with a variety of posters. Some posters talk about Mexico as if they live there and actually know what's going on, while they live most of the time in the USA. They base their comments on their sporadic trips and from reading expat web boards and google searches. That creates some little eddies of self-created info loops where far-off gringos post things that are then repeated by other far-off gringos.

Other expat boards are dominated by surprisingly small-but-vocal groups who consistently steer the information to fit their perceptions & opinions, as the vast majority of expats living in the area avoid those boards => highly biased information.

Mexconnect's boards offer a fun mix of views from across Mexico, the USA and Canada, eliminating some local bias, but still including a mix of posters who bring the fresh eyes and fresh perspectives of travelers from the USA/Canada, mixed with old-timers living here, plus views from people who think visiting Mexico gives the same understandings as living here. For example, posters living in the USA reading local web-boards may guess that the increased visits are just in Mexico's coastal areas, while the first-hand experiences of people living there offer very different insights.

We're seeing more visits here from US & Canadian travelers. It's been a mix of tourists, plus some folks driving beach home sales - as expected from the US/Canadian Baby Boomer demographics of 40 million Boomers retiring with serious savings, (over $1 million in assets per household) between 2014 - 2030. These earliest waves of affluent Boomers are buying beach properties here, but the inland real estate purchases by Canadian/US Boomers seem to be lagging the beach effect.

That effect makes sense, since people tend to visit an area first and buy property later. They visit the beach areas first, and then only later start to venture out into extended inland trips.

Is it solely an advertising effect? The US/Canadian Baby Boomer wave of births started to take-off in 1947, peaking in the 1950's. Since US Social Security retirement rules give full-$$ benefits at age 67, the expected Boom of modestly affluent retirees coming to Mexico would start in late 2014 - 2015 ... ( Age 67 + 1947 = 2014 ), which fit's the Mexconnect article's report.

The higher Boomer birth rates continued for 15 years, adding even more retirees with time & $$ on their hands than in past years. New retirees volumes grow to 1.5 million to 2.5 million for 2014 - 2030 of today's newly retiring Boomers with solid $$ assets** ... retiring every year until about 2030 ... (according to US Census data on birth rates and net household $$ assets). This reality drives gradually increasing US/Canadian visits to Mexico for years to come.

**Realities of US Baby Boomer demographics: Sadly, according to US Census data, the 1.5 million - 2.5 million of new Boomer retirees with significant $$ assets represent only the top 35%-40% of US retirees.

In contrast, the bottom 40% have little or no household assets, while the lowest 25% have net debt.

This means at least 1/3 of Boomer Americans will have materially-comfortable retirements, easily able to visit Mexico, while almost 60% of American Boomers will struggle financially ... or keep working(?) ... or move in with their kids?

Our Merida Men's Club had record numbers of snow-bird and foreign visitor attendees in the Spring of 2015 (increases of 20% - 50% more visitors in meetings - substantially higher than previous years). These numbers are real, since I'm one of the 2 co-leaders and have to count 'em all to pay our overall single restaurant tab. Counting 55 or so old guys popping up & down, wandering back & forth to the buffets is surprisingly challenging.

It is funny Yuca when you talk about 55 old guys at the buffet in Merida.

Cancun has over 500,000 airport passengers a month. That is where the advertising is focused. The beach is where the vast majority of tourists, international and domestic, desire to travel. Not inland locations.

The same factors that make Cancun and the Caribbean coast so attractive, drive others to look for more "not-touristy" locales, like Merida. Many of the qualities that make Merida & Yucatan appealing (slow pace, congenial, traditional) also make it less-attractive to US/Canadian visitors => slow growth. - Read-on MacDuff E-visit at http://yucalandia.com

You are not seriously basing your assertion on expat growth in Merida on the Merida Men's Club breakfast, are you? The one I attended two weeks ago had 5 guys. There was a wave of expats who moved to Merida and the beach 10 to 12 years ago. Many are wanting to move back to their home country. There is a glut of homes for sale but very few are selling.

Playaboy asked on what I based my perceptions that there is growth in US/Canadian visitors to inland Yucatan in 2015.

I cited the only hard-data on the 2015 Yucatan tourist season that I knew: Weeks of substantially more visitors at Merida Mens Club breakfasts during tourist/Snow-bird season (Jan - Feb) than we've ever seen.

Fishfrier ironically came to the MMC breakfast's uniquely lowest single day turnout of the year => serendipity? ... to come during the heart of Mexico's vacation days ... super-hot high-humidity brutal ... July-August doldrums => He's a fine trooper!- Read-on MacDuff E-visit at http://yucalandia.com